Picture it: the year is 2010 in Valdosta, GA and a young man, rightfully deemed “Huey”, is chanting explicitly to some beat of his own, boppin around any given room, doing any number of the popular college dance crazes, in between shots and games of beer pong. It is Monday night and somehow he and his roommate have gathered upwards of 25 people to “turn up”. But let’s not sell the experience short! Naw, the “turn up” was about more than the party itself, it had everything to do with the congregation; the act of coming together, the collection of people that formed bonds, built trusts — it was about the comradery of it all.
Fast forward 10 years, the year 2020 has been… to say the least: crazy… af af.. af af af af! It is a new decade for Huey (who now mainly just goes by Tony) and it has already taken off in ways and directions that are challenging for any young man/woman/person right now, but speaking for Tony… and Huey alone — — shit.. has.. been.. REAL.. af af.. Af af af af!
My alien buddy here is a mood.. THE mood for 2020.
Look.. It is very easy to get caught up in the ways of the world and forget that we are all individual people with our own purpose and lives to live. Right now we are experiencing so many things together — with the broadcasting of such a vast array of different tragedies daily, we are experiencing so many different feelings constantly, and we are doing so collectively… & with very little guidance — a wing and a prayer really hits a little differently now, huh? A lot of the ways that the world is moving are striking a bit of confusion and a lot of rebellion. Things are getting to be so egregious and downright disrespectful that it is literally forcing people to wake up, to face reality, and to show up in ways they never in their lives imagined they would have to.
I think this is absolutely beautiful.
Ever since I was a young boy, I always valued the idea of individuality. Just the idea that everyone is (truly) different and we are all unique fascinated me and still does in many ways to this day. Learning, moving, and growing has truly given me a broader appreciation for God’s intricacies in life; our individuality and significance being one of my favorites. Imagine fully understanding and grasping the idea that you are special, made for a specific reason, and ultimately here for the good of this world. Just imagine… shit… that’s “lit”! af af.. af af af af, Tony Huey!! (sn: TRY IT! 10/10 highly recommend)
I know no one asked me shit, but listen, hear me out: I feel like even though things are flipped upside down right now, 2020 is NOT a break nor should it be used for a lil bit of downtime. I feel like 2020 hit us all so hard because we REALLY [NEED] to sit back, sit down, shift our mentalities and channel different energies. To me it feels more like an abrupt pause, or a scratch on the track in a large, overly crowded room full of folks “turning up”. It startled us when it hit: loud, really obnoxious, extremely confusing, and quite frankly a total buzz-kill. 2020 stopped the party.
But.. wait.
One monkey dont stop no show!
(… after all) That is what Huey would have told Tony if he presented that problem back in 2010. And as crazy as it sounds, his lil free-spirited, thought-he-had-it-all-figured-out ass did have a lil sumn goin, fa sho.
2020 cant stop no show!
This is when we so beautifully and so ethnocentrically start chanting “NO MUSIC!”, as resilient claps ring out in the air and smiles break back out across people’s faces. The technical difficulties are just that, and they can be repaired. But we have to come together, like we did back then. Scurrying like ants to pour random shots, locate chargers, and possibly take that second to finally be heard by the person we had been speaking to. We made collective efforts to keep the party going, to continue enjoying/living life. We need to do that now, but this time in a way that we never have before. We need to pull together to shift the momentum for our future. We need to put ourselves in position to carry the torch, to lead, and nurture younger generations. It is our time — we need to take it.
My stance is that we are resilient by nature and by way. So, please ya’ll, let’s not take 2020 as a failure, we can repurpose it to be something else — something much greater. The party will commence… and both Tony and Huey can agree… we gon be alright.
af af.. af af af af!
